Potential
by LoveMusicRain
Summary: Hermione is a first year when Headmaster Dumbledore gives 3rd year Severus the assignment of accelerating her to higher-level classes as a punishment for a certain curse. Between their struggles with Ron, Lily, and the Marauders, the two develop an unlikely and volatile friendship. (Title will probably change, updates will be irregular due to work and school.)
1. Prologue

The day I boarded Hogwarts Express was easily one of the best in my life. I hugged my mother and father in turn before I got on the train- I would miss them. They understood, though, that I needed to do this, no matter how over our heads this all felt for now.

"Bye, Mum. Bye Dad. I love you." They were both a little teary as we said our goodbyes, and then I picked up my bags, and set off towards my future.

I boarded the train enthusiastically, and faltered only slightly when I realized I had no idea where to sit. I stepped off to the side and watched people board. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was a school for witches and wizards between the ages of eleven and seventeen, and I saw people of varying heights walk past me. I watched the clearly older people walk by until finally, I saw a girl about my height with soft brown curls and I quickly followed her to a car and sat across from her.

"Hello! I'm Hermione, and this is my first year here. What's your name?" I spoke eagerly. This could very well be my first friend in the wizarding world.

"Lavender Brown. I'm also a first-year."

"Nice to meet you, Lavender!"

It was my first time talking to a witch my age and, unable to curb my curiosity, I asked her question after question about Wizard Society until she got up to use the restroom and didn't come back. I felt somewhat awkward, but still somewhat giddy.

When we arrived at the school, well, the castle really, Lavender was forced to reappear, and we followed a large man named Hagrid to some boats and set off across a lake. When we got inside, we were directed to a large hall, set for a huge feast. Before we could eat, however, all of us were sorted into four groups by a singing hat. The hat put me in Gryffindor House, which was known for its brave members. I was excited to find out Lavender would be sharing a dormitory with me. She didn't seem to be as excited, but still seemed grateful, like I was, for a familiar face. The feast was glorious,and when I was sure I wouldn't be able to eat ever again, I was instructed to follow a Prefect named Lily to the Gryffindor common room. She also showed us where our dorms were. I went to bed full, excited, and utterly exhausted by the amazement I'd had to experience that day.


	2. Chapter 1

_(1 term later)_

Being a witch was almost everything I wanted… the only issue was… I wanted everything. Finally, after I'd memorized each of the shiny textbooks my family had bought me in Diagon Alley, I went to Professor McGonagall with my frustrations. She in turn went to the Headmaster. They stood, quietly discussing it, while I sat across from his desk, trying not to feel like a spoiled child. I deserved this education. People probably skipped certain classes at Hogwarts all the time.

Professor McGonagall and Headmaster Dumbledore spoke quietly with eachother, before finally returning to their seats.

"Miss Granger, we believe we have found a solution that would satisfy both your needs and our need to discipline a particular student." Professor McGonagall said, formal as always.

Headmaster Dumbledore explained, "Our Mr. Snape, from Slytherin, wishes to be free from detention, and he is quite intelligent enough to answer any questions you may have about the second-year curriculum. And you have both the intelligence and… the patience to learn well from him, we do believe."

I did some research among my housemates, on my new teacher, but nothing anyone gave me was exceptionally helpful. Lavender told me he'd be "okay looking, if he washed his hair more". James Potter, a third year, simply told me he was "a greasy git". Parvati Patil simply told me he was an arse. Remus Lupin refused to say anything about him to me, and everyone else simply refused to say anything at all to me.

It was arranged that we would meet during the next Hogsmeade visit, as it was apparently assumed neither of us would go, and we would be likely to have the library to ourselves. As predicted, he was the only one in the library when I arrived. He was lanky-looking, with dark shoulder-length hair. I recognized that I'd seen him in the Great Hall before, but I didn't know him besides his name and House. He was sitting at a table, slouched over an Ancient Runes textbook. My heart almost skipped a beat at his study material- I couldn't wait for next year- and then he opened his mouth.

"Nobody said you were a bloody Gryffindor," he sneered as he finally turned and saw me. I frowned. I knew there was a lot of House competition between Slytherin and Gryffindor, but really, I hadn't even spoken to him yet.

"Perhaps because it has absolutely nothing to do with what we're here to do," I said politely, trying to manage a straight face although on the inside I wasn't sure if I wanted to be angry or laugh.

"Right. You need tutoring," he spat out, like the word disgusted him.

"I need acceleration," I corrected. "I'm attempting to opt out of several semesters I deem unnecessary."

His face grew even more sour somehow and he took a book from the top of the stack next to him and handed it to me.

"We'll start with Charms, then. These books are mine and they will be returned to me in perfect condition before the end of the year."

"Of course," I said agreeably.

"Where did you leave off in the curriculum?"

"I'll need to start at the beginning, my goal is to be able to take the test in December with the second-years."

I opened the book and began skimming it over.

"Thought you could slack off for an entire term without any consequences, I suppose?"

"You suppose incorrectly," I said, annoyed with his density. "I'm not even enrolled in this class yet."

I saw the surprise on his face for a moment before he composed it again, although looking marginally less irritated than before.

"So you're a first year, then," he stated.

"Yes." Finally.

"Hmm. I see that my task was incorrectly explained to me." He admitted no mistake, made no apology. He was just as Parvati had described to me: a total arse. I knew I wouldn't mind however, as long as he was as smart of an arse as everyone said he was. I now understood what the Headmaster had said about patience.

"Look over chapter one, then, and then we can go through the material. After today, you'll have to read three chapters at a time in between these meetings to avoid wasting my time. Get started."

I'd never met a more no-nonsense student, and as rude as he was, I appreciated it. Headmaster Dumbledore had obviously chosen this grouchy boy for a reason.

The first chapter was very straightforward, not unlike the Charms book I had in my current class, and it was a simple matter of memorizing the spells.

"Erm… Severus, that is your name right?" I asked, even though I knew that it was. It seemed polite to ask.

"Yes," he said, clearly annoyed with the idea of spending any of his forced time with me on introductions.

"Well, I won't have any trouble remembering these, but if you could watch me to be sure I can do the hand motions correctly, well, that'd be most important."

"Very well," he said. "Next week, come with all your reading done and meet me outside the Great Hall. I'll get permission to practice your Charms on the grounds."

"Thank you, Severus. Next is Advanced Potions." Professor Slughorn had already covered the entire regular curriculum with me. I put the Charms book in my bag, and took the Advanced Potions book he was already handing to me.

"What's all this writing?" I asked, flabbergasted when I saw there was hardly any white left on the pages.

"Personal notes," he said, glaring at me. "Ignore them if you wish, but some parts of the textbook are incorrect. The spells written are my personal property and I won't take kindly to having them used without my permission, especially by a first year."

I narrowed my eyes in contemplation. What kind of spells had he invented... and exactly what made him think he was smarter than whoever wrote the potions book?

"I'd like to try them both ways, if you don't mind." I was nothing, if not open-minded.

"And if I do?" he sneered.

"Then that's too bad. Headmaster Dumbledore asked you to teach me, and supposedly you're getting out of detentions for this. Nothing has changed about your task."

He now openly glared at me, and I grinned despite myself. Something about this entire situation was amusing to me, and I'd gotten his old textbooks, which were all I really needed to begin with. His lip curled even further and, not wanting to push my luck, I thanked him quickly for the textbooks and hurried back to the common room to read to my heart's content.


	3. Chapter 2

"Like this?" I asked, my brows furrowing in concentration as I tried to move my wand in the proper way.

"Yes, Granger," he said, sounding annoyed, but not exactly malicious. "You know it's right, I don't know why you make me waste my time like this."

"I don't know that it's right until I practice it."

"And are you so stupid that you can't practice in your common room?"

My reply was slow enough that he looked at me curiously.

"I just don't spend a lot of time in my common room, that's all," I said, moving onto the next charm. "I did practice some of your potions, however, in Professor Slughorn's lab."

"And I suppose you earned a thousand points for Gryffindor with my corrections?" he asked disgustedly.

"No," I said with a laugh. "But I did earn an invitation to a dinner."

"I have earned a thousand such invitations, and ignore them regularly," Severus said haughtily.

"I… might go," I admitted.

"Why?"

"It might be nice, to meet people."

"Only a Gryffindor would attend a Slug Club meeting to make friends."

"What do you mean?"

"You go to Slug Club meetings to make _connections_ , not friends."

"Well maybe, I need a different kind of connection than you do, Severus," I snipped. He'd finally gotten under my skin.

"There are more important things than friends, Granger," he said in a voice that was pacifying, for him. I merely made a noise of assent and repeated a wand movement- that one would be difficult to remember. I made a mental note to practice it more often.

"Really, Granger, the members of your house are dunderheads, you'd have better luck with Ravenclaws."

"Thanks, Severus," I said without thinking, but recognizing his wraparound compliment.

"Well, you're a dunderhead, too. If you think asking questions as a form of assault is the way to make friends, then keep at it." I exhaled through my nose as I stifled a laugh. If I thought thanking Severus was a good idea, maybe I _was_ being a dunderhead.

It wasn't so bad that I didn't have friends… I never had, not really. Everytime someone had gotten close to me before, I'd gotten excited and unexplainable things would happen to scare them away. But I'd also had my parents before. I just figured, maybe, that once I met other witches and wizards, I'd relate to them better. I couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed when I was as much of an oddball here as I was in Muggle Society.

Then his entire demeanor changed as a group of older Gryffindors walked by. I recognized James, Remus, and Lily, but they were also with a mousy looking boy I'd never been introduced to, and a tall dark-haired boy who'd refused to speak to me before. Severus stiffened.

James nudged the dark-haired boy and came up to us.

"What are you doing there Snivellus?" James asked, laughing cruelly. I held my breath and Lily scowled.

"James!"

"Don't worry about it, Lily, all in good fun," he said.

"His name is Severus," I said. "And we're in the middle of something, if you don't mind."

The dark-haired boy sneered at me and opened his mouth to speak, but Lily interrupted him.

"Don't you dare! She's a first year! And you-" she now spoke to James. "Stop bothering Severus!"

Severus had already lifted his wand, and I backed away.

"Trying to get expelled? Go ahead," James taunted. "Isn't your little stabbing curse why you're tutoring Granger in the first place?"

Severus' face turned red, and he lowered his wand.

"That's right," James said. "If you want to learn real magic, I'm sure I could teach you a cleansing charm for your greasy hair."

"Someday," Severus said coldly, "you will beg for my mercy, and not even the Headmaster will be able to protect you."

The dark-haired boy spoke up. "Ooh, scary Snape. Gonna tell your little Death Eaters about me hurting your feewings?"

Lily stomped off in the other direction, distracting James, who followed after her. After a moment, everyone else followed James, although Remus looked a little distraught.

Severus immediately got his wand out and muttered under his breath at their backs. There was a shout and then the dark-haired boy was on the ground, pulling his shoes off. Severus had already put his wand away, and I looked to see what had happened to the other boy. His toenails had grown beyond natural proportion and looked quite disturbing, but I couldn't help but feel a little vindictive on Severus' behalf. No wonder he was so unpleasant if he was treated like this on a regular basis. I tried not to think about the stabbing curse and what the boy had meant by that.

"I didn't know all of them," I said uselessly.

"What, would you like me to introduce you sometime?" he sneered, and I realized how that probably sounded to him.

"No, I was just trying to say something," I said honestly, unsure of what the appropriate response was.

"Well, stop trying, and keep working on your charms, idiot girl."

I worked on the next one for a while, but I wanted to ask him so much about what had just occurred.

I gathered my own information over the next few weeks, from Lily, mostly. She was quite infatuated with James, but apparently had been close to Severus for a long time.

"Severus was one of my best friends, but he is into some Dark stuff, very Dark magic. You'd do better with a different role model, Hermione," she told me.

I wasn't sure about all this Dark magic, and Death Eater stuff, but I did know that Severus was a good teacher, and he was interesting. It was getting easier to ignore his harsh manner of speaking, and it was a breath of fresh air after being ignored for almost an entire term, so I continued to make excuses to see him, even after I'd learned my charms.

Finally, one day when he was helping me transfigure a mouse into a teakettle my curiosity broke.  
"I don't get it," I ranted. "Lily seems so nice! Why does she hang around James and his friends?"

He gripped the teakettle so hard I thought it would shatter.

"Lily _is_ nice."  
"Then why? She said you're friends. I don't know much about friends, but I don't think you're supposed to let your friends harass one another."  
He paused, thinking about his response with a sullen expression on his face. "It is my personal understanding that she's confused by her attraction to them."

I shook my head. As if attraction was a valid excuse.

"It's the same with Remus, he's so… nice to me. I don't think _he's_ attracted to them."

"Are you going to tell me what I already know, or are you under the impression that I don't have better things to do than discuss the Marauders?" he snapped. "And as for the being nice to you, it's because you're a Gryffindor. Now transfigure this kettle back or I'll intentionally let you fail your OWLs."


	4. Chapter 3

**About halfway through writing this I remembered that first years arent allowed to go to Hogsmeade, but this is fanfiction, and "I'm breaking all the rules now anyway,", to quote my first Fandom. I'm sure the inconsistency won't upset you all that much.**

"I'd like to go to Hogsmeade," I declared.

"Then go," Severus said, sniffing haughtily. "You already know the course material I was meant to teach you."

"I'm supposed to stay with you."

He rolled his eyes. "I won't tell."

"Good, because I want you to come with me."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Don't you think it sounds like fun?"

"Not in the slightest."

"Please come with me," I said, trying not to sound demanding or annoying.

"No."

"But why not? I never go do things like this, I don't want to go alone. You never go either. I want to see what the fuss is about."

"Go make friends with some Ravenclaw

"Couldn't we be friends?"

"No."

"You're going to be my friend," I decided.

He looked both enraged and confused but he had been rendered speechless, as I intended.

"Now why don't you want to come to Hogsmeade with me?"

"Do you really think that going to Hogsmeade with a first year Gryffindor is going to be better for my reputation than to stay behind? If I wanted to go with anyone, I'd go with Lucius or one of my friends. Not you."

"Does Lucius go to Hogsmeade often?" I asked sarcastically. I'd seen Lucius, whose entire being screamed seriousness.

He glared at me. "Are you done?"

"Not quite."

"I will go to Hogsmeade with you on the condition that you do not speak half this much when we are there."

I beamed. "Thank you, Severus!"

He grimaced, picking up his books and walking back to the castle.

When the day came I had a list prepared a list of things to buy and shops to visit.

Severus looked pained when I happily ran up to him, and silently started walking to the path to Hogsmeade. It was chilly, so I'd charmed my shoes and robe to be slightly warmer than usual, and I wondered idly if he ever did the same to his. He was certainly capable, but he seemed like the type of person to stay cold just for the sake of pride.

"I'd like to go to Tomes and Scrolls first, and I'd also like to go to Honeyduke's but otherwise we can go anywhere you'd like."

"My common room?" he asked dryly, and I laughed.

Hogsmeade was picturesque, and smaller than I expected. I found only a few of the books I wanted, including A Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4, and Spellman's Syllabary. Tomes and Scrolls did not have Moste Potente Potions, or The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-protection. Severus spoke up while I was looking for them though.

"I own Moste Potente Potions. If you are willing to stay quiet about it, I can allow you to look through it. Given that you've already seen all my other books I suppose it can't hurt."

I thanked him, and went to Honeyduke's then, where I got some chocolate wands, crystallized pineapple, toffees and taffy. Severus refused to spend any of his money on sweets but when I offered, even he accepted a chocolate wand and a toffee. We then went to Dogwood and Deathcap to get some plants Severus wanted for his Potions ingredients, and he spent hours telling me what each one was, and what it did, and what it was going to be put in.

He told me about knotgrass and fluxweed, Angel's Trumpet, Flitterbloom and how it was loosely related to Devil's Snare. He told me about Silverweed and Wormwood. It was better than an Herbology class! I wanted to go to Three Broomsticks and try some Butterbeer that my housemates were always talking about, but as soon as I mentioned it Severus' entire demeanor changed.

"The Marauders are probably there."

"Oh. I forgot about them."

"I never do," Severus said.

"Would you like me to bring you some?" I asked, procuring a water bottle from my purse and removing the shrinking charm.

The unspoken happiness on his face looked quite unusual, and my heart swelled up with the new knowledge that I could make Severus Snape smile.


End file.
